Day 1... did someone say rain?

Okay dear readers, the big day arrived - Day 1 of landscaping began. We started the day by deciding that we wouldn't stick around to greet the guys - which was lucky because when i called their mobiles from work to check everything was okay they hadn't even arrived at our house yet, so we would have been VERY late for work..... anyway here are the before shots taken this morning (just in case you haven't seen enough shots of our crappy backyard....





And this is what we were confronted with when we arrived home from work this afternoon!! I was stoked - it looked so cool - and reminded me of my childhood when I would have thought all my Christmases had come at once, running around the backyard in the mud, slipping and sliding down this huge hill of dirt...... alas, I am old and sensible now and had a baby in my arms, so I just stood and admired how much work they had done - in a very grown up way!! :)






And here I sit - listening to the rain BUCKET down... a week too early - we need this next week when the turf is laid *sigh*

That's downright un-neighbourly of you.......

Hi all,
Well, I've not blogged for ages dear readers and I know that this has left a hole in your lives.... so rest assured I am back - and with some good news. You may remember from earlier blogs that one of my 'to-do's' on my ever growing list of things to do in my life, was to landscape the backyard. You can refer to an earlier post here explaining the back breaking hours I put into sledge-hammering the concrete in our backyard. You will all be suitably feeling sorry for me when I point out that all of that labour was in vain. Apparently what took me days to achieve, the bobcat will be able to complete in about 2 minutes - if that. Still, all that work was back when we were going to do the landscaping ourselves. We have since come to our senses (and found not one but two credit card companies silly enough to lend us even more credit) and found ourselves a fantastic landscaper......(I would give him a free plug here but he insists he has too much work on as it is!!!) so wait for it ............ drumroll....
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the landscaping begins TOMORROW!!!! I am so darn excited. Seriously, it's not actually normal that one should be this excited about getting a new backyard, but so few things in my life are actually completed these days that I'm easily pleased. (Can you imagine the party that will be thrown should I ever complete my thesis???).

But the road thus far has not been easy. Those of you following my story will have already heard me complain about lack of finances (stick around, you'll be hearing that woe plenty more times in the coming months as we struggle to pay off credit cards at 18.5%!!!) and the trouble we had finding finance. Well once we had that sorted out, the next set of problems began.... access to our backyard. Down one side of our house, for those of you dear readers who have been here, you will remember is a sharp drop - the likes of which no bobcat is going to be able to navigate. The other side of the house - a carport. Not a great carport granted, but one that does the job in protecting our car from the elements and the hail that tends to hit Brisbane with alarming frequency during the stormy, summer months. And so the negotiations with neighbours begin.

I have wonderful neighbours on both sides of us (Hi Mel, I know you're reading this!!). After scoping out both properties, we decided one of them would have to be too damaged if we took a bobcat down the side of their house (I'd like to point out here that these neighbours were still trying to figure out how to help us out despite the fact that they are due to move to Canberra in about a week and are trying to rent their house - and still they were trying to help us out!! what friends!)... the property on the other side looked hopeful, but then we realised that there was not enough room between the fence and the hot water system.... so alas no luck there. Those neighbours were even willing to let us drive a bobcat over their vegie patch so that we could get a bobcat through.... again, how wonderfully neighbourly is that?
Finally, the bobcat operator suggested the people over the back - their yard feeds straight onto ours, no walls or anything to negotiate - in fact they don't even have a front fence AND their yard is currently pretty torn up because they are having a pool dug in. What infinitesimally small amount of damage that MAY have been done to their existing garden was going to be professionally fixed by my landscaper for free. That's right folks - re-landscaping your garden for free... no cost to you. So what was their response when I practically begged them for access to their yard?

NO.

That's right.

NO.

Well that's downright neighbourly of you folks thanks. Let me just go and rip my carport down so that we don't ruin your grass - oh that's right YOUR GRASS IS ALREADY RUINED BECAUSE YOU ARE GETTING AN INDOOR POOL DUG IN AND JUST HAD A FLIPPIN' BOBCAT RUN OVER YOUR GRASS NOT 4 WEEKS AGO!!!!!.... thanks for your help.

So after lamenting to our landscaper of our neighbourly woes, he gave up his Sunday today at no extra cost in our quote to help my darling husband and his two mates dismantle our carport (no mean feat as you'll note the jungle that had to be removed from the top of the roof!!).



He will also be helping us to put it back up when he's done AND is giving us some new roof sheeting as the stuff we tore down was pretty old and rusty. Now don't get me wrong, I know this guy is making a profit on the quote he gave us - and so he should, he's running a business. But nothing in the quote said that he had to help us out with our structural problems AND help us re-build a carport. No wonder the guy doesn't need any extra business, with customer service like that he must be in hot demand.....



The garage after 'the jungle' was removed.

So here's what it all looks like now - bare huh?



Now we just hope everything from here on goes smoothly.... and that the bobcat can fit through (we have measured it six times but the way our luck has been running who knows!!).

So hopefully by the time I get home tomorrow our backyard will no longer look like this!!!





here are the boys working hard - and after a hard day working, the boys deserved a beer - charlotte girl thought she would get one for them. he he he




Stay Tuned for Daily Updates (hopefully!)

I can fit.....I just have to hold my head right....

not content to just play quietly while I try and get my thesis written, charlotte has now taken to climbing in and around my computer desk to get my attention. I have a laptop so don't require the space where the computer case would normally go. Charlotte has decided it makes a neat cubby.....

MIA

just wanted dear readers, to alleviate any fears that I had come to some terrible end or encountered some unthinkable misfortune. I've just been lazy / tired / bored with blogging / busy.... take your pick. I shall return. Have no fear. And thank you Meegan for your concern :)